Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRWD) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.2333.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Julie Mchugh sold 21,571 shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.73, for a total value of $80,459.83. Following the sale, the director owned 250,749 shares in the company, valued at $935,293.77. This trade represents a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Range Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,436,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,897,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals by 84.7% in the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 571,613 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 262,084 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $613,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd purchased a new position in Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $554,000.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IRWD opened at $4.33 on Friday. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $0.67 and a 52 week high of $5.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $3.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $3.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $706.05 million, a PE ratio of 7.22 and a beta of 0.20.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IRWD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biotechnology company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $106.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.11 million. Ironwood Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 39.65% and a net margin of 28.26%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ironwood Pharmaceuticals will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a commercial‐stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines for gastrointestinal (GI) disorders. The company’s flagship product is linaclotide, marketed under the brand name LINZESS in the United States for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) and chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC). Through a strategic collaboration with Allergan (now part of AbbVie), Ironwood also commercializes linaclotide in select ex-U.S.